The SitePoint Forums have moved.

You can now find them here.
This forum is now closed to new posts, but you can browse existing content.
You can find out more information about the move and how to open a new account (if necessary) here.
If you get stuck you can get support by emailing forums@sitepoint.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Hiya,
I've been employed recently to work on this site as part of a team of four. The other three are totally resistant to any changes on this site whatsoever, which I firmly believe is one of the worst around.

What I'd like from you ladies and gentlemen are some reviews (please be as critical as you like) so that I can go back to the "team" and/or the boss and say "LOOK things have to change here!"

The site is aimed at Thai youth at a means for them to improve their English

It looks very good. Really fast & nice
'magazine like' design.
But I have had an alignment problem with
the image in the main page : the hairs and left eye of the
girl is misaligned with the rest of her face
(I can send you a screen shot if you want)
I use Netscape 4.7 / Solaris.
A question: why N-J Saturday & E-Pal bring up another window ?

The alignment issue is a common problem - but believe it or not, the guy who designs that particular page (it changes every day) refuses to test it in other browsers (he in an Opera fan) so we often have this problem! Nothing better than teamwork!

Re epals and NJ saturday opening new windows, quite a few of the features do that (also homework hotline and the entrance exam from memory) They want it done that way to keep the central site open at the same time. I disagree but that's the way they want it done.

I'm interested that you found it fast - what kind of connection are you on - often the front page can take over a minute to load from where I am (Bangkok)

Wayne,
I take your point re proving that "design can be done on the web" but my opinion has always been functionality first, prettiness second. Having a 20K pic of a woman with roller skates on the front page, to me, doesn't add to the site - and it certainly doesn't help me practise my English!!

I loaded the page on a 1.5 MBPS T-1 over a 10 MBPS Ethernet WAN. I am in California and the two firewalls are in Oregon and Texas. It loaded quite fast. I even tested it on a 33,600 baud modem connected at 31,200 and it connected fast (~18 seconds).

The Actual pictures being used now might not fit the site but the layout does. I would try to make the Front page similar to the Entertainment page which is cleaner and has less junk. All the links on the side make the Front Page look like an affiliate program junkie's homepage. What do your readers think? If its supposed to help them then ask them for their opinion.

Hi,
I viewed the page on a noisy phone line with a 24000 bps connection and it took near a minute to fill out completely. Is the site targeting girls? The colors could stand to be changed and get rid of the large pics on the main page. Thats it for now.

The speed issue is a serious one, as in upcountry Thailand there are not to many flash connections around - most are on 33K or 55K at best. The front page often takes over a minute to load, and people wonder why we don't get enough traffic!

The site loaded decently for me, about as fast as SitePoint's mainpage...however 5 more seconds and I'd probably have become a little impatient.

Graphics are overdone a bit, and the blue is a bit too bright, but you think it's one of the "worst around"? Sorry, I can't agree with it...it has it's flaws, but nothing that's not easily corrected from what I see...it certainly doesn't come off as a poorly designed site in my opinion...

As for the other 3 in the "team"...don't come at them telling them their site is terrible and needs an overhaul (I don't think it does, anyway, but thats beside the point)...start slowly...make a recommendation here or there...you or I would likely respond badly to major criticism, it would be odd to expect anything else out of others.

Initial page is VERY busy. Could definitely be pared down in my opinion.

If it's geared at Thai youth in general, get some male models. Due to the color scheme and the fact that all the models are female, it seems to be geared towards girls.

I personally am not a huge fan of that aqua blue color. Personal taste. But I think there are some other color issues. I noticed the color scheme of the top graphic and the design of the headings (i.e. - "Learn English" and "Entertainment") change from page to page. I guess that's not really bad for your site - adds to the fun feel and since the top graphic stays the same other than color, you don't have to wonder if you're still on the same site. But I don't really like all the color combos and I think the text design/colors of the two headings mentioned above do not go well with the colors used in the top graphics on those pages.

I hope you do continue to use the models (add some guys) and that same distorted view photography. I like that part of the design a lot.